Improvement in corpse-preservers



-P. TAL TAVULL; Corpse Preservers.

' N0. 13:8;449, Patented April 29, 18-73;

19 E llll; J

. Williams Ewen/2221' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER TALTAVULL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND EDWARD M." BOTELER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT m CORPSE-PRESERVERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,449, dated April 29, 1873; application filed June 1, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER TALTAVULL, of Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oorpse-Preservers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making 'a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of.

the exterior of the structure. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section through the box, preserver, or cooler; and Fig. 3 represents a vertical cross-section through the same.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts in the drawing.

The principal objection to the corpse-preservers or coolers now in use is, that the exterior of the case is in contact, to a greater or less extent, with the ice-box or chamber in the interior, and becomes so cold as to condense the moisture in the surrounding air, and thus makes the; exterior of the case so wet as to produce dripping or dropping upon the floor or carpet, and to make the handling of the case or box unpleasant if not unsafe from slipping in the hands.

My invention consists in suspending a corpse-preserver, composed of two horizontal sections united by a packed joint, so as to be readily separable thereat-the under section for containing the body to be preserved, and the upper section for containing the ice and dead-air space surrounding it, the ice-box in said upper section being suspended therein, but not extending down to the packed joint, so that, when the upper section is removed to gain access to the interior of the lower section, the former may be set down without removal of or resting upon the ice-box, or in any way endangering it.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the draw- The case is made of two horizontal sections,

A B, with the joint between them packed with India rubber or other suitable packing, as at a a. Brackets b b are fastened to the two sections, and set-screws c a passing through them, and crossing the joint between said sections, admit of their being drawn together so as to be practically air-tight, so far as the joint between them is concerned. In the lower section of the case is placed a restingboard, 0, for receiving the body which is to be cooled or preserved, said board being adjustable, as to height, by means of set-screws d d, to bring the body as near to the ice-box as is desirable without touching it. In the upper and larger section, B, of the case is suspended the ice-box D, which extends very nearly from end to end and from side to side of the section, there being a space, 6, around that portion of it which the ice is in contact with, to prevent the cold air from reaching the exterior of the case by conduction. The bottom of the ice-box is formed, as shown, by the cross-sectionat f, Fig. 3, so that it may encompass more of the. body that is being cooled or preserved. Through the top central portion of the upper section, and in a slightly elevated part, E, thereof, there is an opening, g g, through which ice is introduced into the ice-box D, said opening being controlled by doors (two for convenience) F G, which shut into a recess that may be packed, as at t, and which doors may be tightly closed upon the packing by set-screws h h, or otherwise. The ice-box D is suspended in the upper section, B, of the case by the sides and ends j 7a of the opening 9 g; but as the ice does not or need not be in contact with these sides and ends, there is no conduction through them to the exterior of the case. Through the top section, B, and at one end thereof, there is an opening, H, covered by glass, and through the ice-box is continued this opening, properly guarded by a surrounding jacket, so that the face of the body placed in the lower section and under the ice-box may be seen from the exterior of the case, while the inside is sealed against the external air, and vice versa.

The water from the melting of the ice in the ice-box may be drawn off through the chamher and pipe m, Which, on the exterior of the case, is covered by a screw-cap, which is more sightl'y than a draw-off faucet, though thelatter may be used, if preferred.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with an exterior case, con-. structed and operating as herein described, the ice-box D suspended therein, when said ice-box nearly fills or extends throughout the upper part of the case, has no contact with said upper part, except by the thin plates by which it is suspended, and is surrounded on all sides by the dead-air space e, as and for the purpose described.

PETER TALTAVULL. Witnesses:

A. B. STOUGHTON, EDMUND MASSON. 

